Hands On: Resident Evil 2 Remake

Since the Resident Evil 2 Remake project was confirmed back in 2015, fans have been wondering why we haven’t heard anything from it. Capcom’s R&D Division 1 have been busy and simply were not in a position to show anything. The game was finally revealed during Sony’s E3 media showcase and it looked visually stunning.

I was fortunate enough to play the E3 demo of Resident Evil 2 Remake when Capcom held an event in London. I picked up the dualshock 4 controller, pushed start, and it was on. The demo began inside the Raccoon City police station. I was playing as Leon S Kennedy and for a moment I was just taking it all in. The game brought back the same chills as the original 20 years ago. If you’re wondering how the game plays and what camera angle you can control, then I can fully confirm that you’ll be able to play this game from a third person perspective with a traditional over shoulder camera view just like Resident Evil 4-6. This was everything I imagined a Resident Evil 2 remake to be.

The game looked jaw dropping. Running on the RE engine, you can really see that they put a lot of time and effort in to this game. The atmosphere and the visuals looked incredible. As I was walking around the police station, I discovered a laptop. It was showing me that another RPD officer needed help. I went to look for him and reached a section where the power was out so I had to use my flash light. As I was walking through the narrow hallways and offices, I was lost until I heard a scream from that same officer that needed help. I reached his location to open the door. He tried to crawl out the gap but it was to late, I managed pulled him out but the lower half of his body was missing. The officer dropped an item and after picking it up, a zombie kicked down the door, it was heading towards me and that’s when the action began. I was fighting my way out of danger, I used a handgun I obtained from the beginning of the demo, but it had limited ammo. I was pulling off perfect headshots and the gunplay just felt satisfying.

You’ll be in for a treat when it comes to the sound. It a great opportunity to invest in a new set headphones just to soak up the atmosphere of the game.

The animation, and the attention to detail is something many diehard fans would appreciate. The character models looked superb and you’ll notice the detail on Leon’s hair as you’re moving, Capcom went all out with the hair physics. The game runs at a silky smooth 60fps and the demo was played on a PS4 Pro. Overall I was blown away and it left me wanting for more. This game is building up to be the greatest remake and I look forward to playing the full release.

Resident Evil 2 Remake will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on January 25, 2019